Zubel, Agata International Festival of Contemporary Music Warsaw Autumn

go to content

Composer and singer, known for her unique vocal range and use of techniques that challenge stereotypes, Agata Zubel gives concerts throughout the world and has premiered numerous new works.

She is a champion of new music. She has cooperated with ensembles such as Klangforum Wien, Ensemble intercontemporain, Musikfabrik, London Sinfonietta, Ictus, Eighth Blackbird, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Seattle Chamber Players, Münchener Kammerorchester, Neue Vocalsolisten, Remix Ensemble, 2e2m Ensemble, as well as the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, State Opera in Hanover, Sinfonia Varsovia, Warsaw Philharmonic, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, and many others. 

As a singer and composer, Agata Zubel has performed, among others, at and with the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Vienna’s Konzerthaus and Musikverein, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, Amsterdam’s Musikgebouw, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, the philharmonic orchestras of Berlin, Cologne, Luxembourg, Moscow, and Essen, London’s Royal Albert Hall and Royal Festival Hall, Porto’s Casa da Música, New York’s National Sawdust, Seattle Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, L’Opéra de Reims, Warsaw Philharmonic, the philharmonic orchestras of Cracow, Łódź, Szczecin, Gorzów, Katowice, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, National Music Forum in Wrocław, Grand Theatre – Polish National Opera in Warsaw, Cracow Opera, Wrocław Opera, and many others. 

She has participated in numerous festivals, including the BBC Proms, Wien Modern, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Festival d’Automne in Paris, Warsaw Autumn, MaerzMusik, International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt, Ultraschall, Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik, Huddersfield, Trans Art, Avanti! in Porvoo, Other Minds in San Francisco, Beethoven Festival in Bonn, Musikprotokoll in Graz, Ankara, Klara in Brussels, Festival of Electronic Music in Karlsruhe, Melos–Ethos in Bratislava, Festival de Wallonie in Mons, Wratislavia Cantans, Chopin and His Europe, Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival, Sacrum Profanum, Musica Polonica Nova, Musica Electronica Nova, Katowice – Culture – Nature, Chain, and many others. 

She is a lecturer at the Academy of Music in Wrocław where in 2020 she became Professor of Arts. Her accolades include the Meritorious for Polish Culture and Gloria Artis medals, as well as scholarships from the Polish Ministry of Culture, Rockefeller Foundation, Ernst von Siemens Foundation, and Kultur Kontakt in Austria. She is a member of the Polish Composers’ Union. Together with Cezary Duchnowski she performs in the ElettroVoce duo. 

Selected works (from 2005): Symphony no. 2 for 77 musicians (2005), String Quartet no. 1 for four cellos and computer (2006), Permissible Load for percussion and computer (2006), Cascando for voice, flute, clarinet, violin and cello (2007), Of Songs for voice, cello, choir and orchestra (2007), Between, opera / ballet for voice, electronics and dancers (2008), Symphony no. 3 for trumpet and symphony orchestra (2008–9), Not I for voice, chamber ensemble and electronics to words by Samuel Beckett (2010), Oresteia, drama / opera for soloists, actors, choir, percussion and electronics (2011), Suite for percussion trio (2011), Aphorisms on Miłosz for soprano and ensemble to words by Czesław Miłosz (2011), The Streets of a Human City for ensemble (2011), Shades of Ice for clarinet, cello and electronics (2011), Labyrinth for voice and chamber ensemble to words by Wisława Szymborska (2011), What Is the Word for voice and chamber ensemble to words by Samuel Beckett (2012), Wounded Angel for double-bell trumpet (2009–12), Percussion Store for percussion ensemble and orchestra (2012), Lullaby for mixed choir to words by Shakespeare (2013), In Between the Ebb of Thoughts and the Flow of Sleep for voice, piano and string orchestra to words by Tadeusz Dąbrowski (2013), IN for large symphony orchestra (2013), Cadenza for violin (2013), Where To for ensemble (2014), Violin Concerto for violin and chamber orchestra (2014), Chapter 13 for soprano and ensemble to words by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (2015), Madrigals for five voices (2015), In the Shade of an Unshed Tear for orchestra (2016), Double Battery for ensemble with optional augmented sound space (2016), The Alphabet of the Ars Brevis for two male voices (2016), Bildbeschreibung, opera form for two voices, ensemble and electronics to words by Heiner Müller (2016), Cleopatra’s Songs for voice and ensemble to words by William Shakespeare (2017), Mother Lode I–III, cycle of chamber works (2017), Fireworksfor large symphony orchestra (2018), Chamber Piano Concerto for piano(s) and ensemble (2018), 3x3 for ensemble (2019), Piano Piano but Not Pianissimo for piano(s) (2019), Friction for trumpet, trombone and tuba (2020), Triptyque for ensemble (2020), Mono-drum for bass drum (2020), Memory of Bronze for carillon (2021), Flash for percussion and ensemble (2021), Piano Concerto no. 2 for piano(s) and orchestra (2021).